Intel cuts SSD prices, introduces 240GB SSD 330 model

The rumored price cuts for Intel’s consumer SSD lines have gone into effect a bit earlier than anticipated. Intel made the announcement on its website, and while it didn’t quote exact prices, a quick search on Newegg.com shows that the numbers reported last week were mostly spot on.

For example, 180GB, 120GB, and 60GB variants of the 330 Series are down to $159.99, $99.99, and $69.99, respectively. VR-Zone had predicted cuts to $154, $104, and $69. Meanwhile, the 520 Series now starts at $104.99 for the 60GB model, $149.99 for 120GB, $209.99 for 180GB, $269.99 for 240GB, and $519.99 for 480GB -- previously their Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) was set at $109, $189, $279, $349, and $809 respectively.

The older 320 Series doesn’t appear to have been affected by the cuts yet -- at least not on Newegg.

The new prices will make Intel’s drives more competitive against the rest of the market, which has seen overall prices for mainstream SSDs go on a steady decline over the past year.

In addition to the price cuts Intel also announced a new 240GB variant for the SSD 330 Series, which was previously capped at 180GB. Like other members of Intel’s newest entry-level SSD family it can handle up to 500 MB/s sequential reads, up to 450 MB/s sequential writes, up to 42,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 52,000 IOPS 4K random writes. Pricing for this model hasn’t been revealed yet.